A pulsating Friday night clash between Manchester and Fife saw the visitors pick up their first victory of the campaign, edging a 6–5 win in overtime.

Fife opened the scoring in the 11th minute, McLean making good use of a screen to backhand an effort beyond Weninger. The Storm were level five minutes later when Gilmour’s strike—laced in controversy—was awarded after officials stuck with their on-ice call, unable to determine whether the puck had been played with a high stick. A tremendous stop by Weninger in the dying moments of the first period kept the scores level heading into the intermission.

The Storm made the perfect start to the middle twenty as the in-form Johnson finished on the power play, his nifty puck-handling in tight proving too much for Owen in the Flyers’ net. From that moment the game truly burst into life. Weninger denied Winquist one-on-one with a flash of the leather in the 27th minute, before Flyers captain Hunt lost his cool and was assessed a match penalty for being the aggressor in a fight with new signing Hannoun. The extended Storm power play, however, counterintuitively favoured the short-handed Scots, who struck twice while killing the penalty.

A defensive breakdown allowed Jameson ample room to slide the puck through Weninger’s pads at the game’s midway point. The see-sawing special-teams battle then continued as Johnson added his second of the night with a bottle-popping finish over Owen’s shoulder to restore Storm’s slender lead. But Jameson was gifted a second breakaway while short-handed and finished with aplomb to bring Fife level at 3–3. A couple of excellent stops from Flyers stalwart Owen—first on Johnson and then Cutler—ensured his side reached the second intermission with everything still to play for, a rarity so far in a rebuilding campaign.

Manchester again came out of the blocks quickly in the early throes of an important third period. Several chances flashed wide, including Nardi ringing a wrist shot off the iron in the 42nd minute. Then debutant Karlsson put the visitors ahead with a well-timed effort from the wing that evaded everyone, piling the pressure onto Manchester for the final fifteen minutes. A sharp, tight-angled shot from Porsberger caught Weninger out of position and doubled the Flyers’ advantage, putting them within touching distance of their first league victory.

The final five minutes saw Manchester haul themselves back into contention. Hannoun marked his debut with a long-range strike that halved the deficit, and Critchlow made a bold move by pulling Weninger with over three minutes remaining—one that proved inspired. The ensuing passage of play with the extra skater saw Storm draw level at 5–5 as Gilmour danced along the goal line and showed excellent composure to beat a sprawling Owen.

Storm then killed off a penalty in the opening stages of overtime, but the Flyers would not be denied their deserved win. Finoro flicked a backhand shot into the top corner to ice the game and secure Fife’s first victory of the campaign.

Words by: Callum Schora